I've read Poppendieck book's before and followed their teachings for some time already. This book had slipped my radar for some reason and I'm actuall...moreI've read Poppendieck book's before and followed their teachings for some time already. This book had slipped my radar for some reason and I'm actually glad it had. It was really nice to go through thoughts from basics of Lean and Agile software development, without still wasting many pages on those. This book excellently reminds on the basics, but still give valuable information for the more experienced ones.
Book is full of excellent examples starting from the 70's and 80's, but coming back to the latest years. It explains all the things shortly, but understandably. It is excellent source for information and ideas for further information seeking.
What I've always liked about their thinking, is that they don't ever seem to get in to the hype's. They understand that hype's are hype's and Lean and Agile are something more sustainable. Getting better in software development is never about some specific ways of working. It is always about improvement and doing things better than previously.
I don't recommend it to be the first book about Lean or Agile software development. It gives something for everyone, but it is more valuable when one has got more experience to map the information against.
It was an excellent book and I enjoyed it enormously.
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
By a coincide I bought Dangerous Ideas by Alf Rehn. I had forgotten book I'm reading to home and I had to go to dentist waiting room that day. I didn'...moreBy a coincide I bought Dangerous Ideas by Alf Rehn. I had forgotten book I'm reading to home and I had to go to dentist waiting room that day. I didn't want to go there without any book and I stopped by in a local book store to pick up just some book. There this book was and as I knew the book already I quickly decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did, it was excellent.
Due to Alf Rehn being a Finn I had followed his career from media for some time. For some reason it hadn't raised my expectation towards the book. I actually had decided not to read the book. I'm happy I gave it a second change .
The book is about creativity. It challenges the whole creativity business and is provocative towards many other things also. That's what I liked in the book. It at least tried to be different from other creativity and innovation books I've read. It made me think differently on many things.
One reason I liked the book was that it matches my thinking in many things. I've seen in many occasions, that these creative persons actually all think alike. Also they quite often hate criticism and questioning their thinking. Which I think is funny, they say to be open minded for all ideas, but can't work with new ideas from other people. I think Alf Rehn has similar message whole out the book
Dangerous Ideas was an excellent book for those who have to create new things once in a while. I highly recommend it to everyone. It is provocative enough to hate and love some parts of the book. I'm sure everyone will get something out of it.
I got the impression from the book that Alf Rehn wouldn't be always nice guy to work with. My own experience is that best guys to work with are really the ones who are not the nicest and easiest. With the guys who are hard sometimes, I at least have done the best work so far.
This is a book I do remember reading for some time in the future. That is what makes a book special for me.
P.S I have to admit I read the finnish version: "Vaaralliset Ideat". Book was originally written in Swedish (as that's Alf Rehn's native language) and the Finnish translation was actually quite bad. It used language not suiting well to Finnish language. That's not Alf Rehn fault, but translators. That doesn't concern most of you, but I had to mention for those who can speak Finnish and might think of getting the Finnish version.(less)
I've been wanting to get in to a systems thinking for some time already. As I often do, I'll try to find the best book for the subject. With systems t...moreI've been wanting to get in to a systems thinking for some time already. As I often do, I'll try to find the best book for the subject. With systems thinking, book from Donella H. Meadows seemed to be it. Thinking in Systems was written already in 2001, but it feels as fresh as any book.
Book starts from very basic systems and theory round those. Even though it goes to very basics, it's not dull and boring, but interesting way to look on familiar systems. Via these basic systems book explains the underlying theories behind systems thinking.
Thinking in Systems builds cleverly up from the basics to more complex systems and to theories around systems. It is quite easy to follow, but it requires thinking to keep up with system feedback loops and other things affecting systems.
What is funny about the systems theory in this book, is that everything is actually quite simple and easy to understand as a system, but then on the other hand, no one can really tell how complex systems will actually work. I think this is actually how the world works, no one can really certainly tell how changes in system will at the end turn out.
Book introduces common pitfalls with systems. Most of are the things that can be seen almost everyday. People overcompensate on problems or react too heavily on some things. Often the underlying logic of system is forgotten and people are will fix something that has no effect in the overall or will make things actually worse.
It was an excellent book and I recommend it to everyone. This book will help everyone understand more about the world we live in. I'm bit sad to know that not that many will actually read this book. Systems thinking is not the trendiest subject out there. That's a pity. You can be different and read it.
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
As the title says this book is about sales. Dan Pink tells how sales has changed in recent years due to the increasing availability of information. He...moreAs the title says this book is about sales. Dan Pink tells how sales has changed in recent years due to the increasing availability of information. He also explains how we are all more or less in selling business. At least we are all everyday trying to persuade others for something. So at the end we are all in sales.
As the previous books from him, this was really enjoyable to read. It's fluent and fun to read. Examples are good and text is interesting. He also dives in to sales world nicely. He gets himself involved and tells about those experiences interestingly.
Main idea in the book is that, selling is changing from stereotypical sleek car sales to more human listening and true understanding of the needs of a person. But the whole book is not only about soft values of moving people, there are also many good tips on closing the deal with certain behavior. Even if you would be in the traditional mindset of sales, this book has valuable tips to think of.
I enjoyed the book. I recommend this to everyone. It's easy to read and I can guarantee you get at least some behavioral tips out of it. If you think you are not sales at all, think again. There is always some situations where you need to sell your own point of view to someone else. That's as much selling as all the other selling.
This review was first posted on my blog - here.(less)
Service Design has been an interesting topic for me for a some time. Finally I wanted to get more understanding about it and its basic. That's the rea...moreService Design has been an interesting topic for me for a some time. Finally I wanted to get more understanding about it and its basic. That's the reason I got my hands on a book that was saying to be "the book" for service design -This is Service Design Thinking by Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider.
I was super excited to start reading about the wonderful world of service design. I read and read and read and became really bored. First hundred pages of the book the authors are trying to say WE ARE IMPORTANT. I knew it already, designing good services is important and doing it structured way with service design must be even more important. After this start, I wasn't anymore really sure. If someone needs to state in so many different ways that they are important, maybe they really are not.
In the middle section book got better. It told in short articles, bit like blog posts, methods to do service design. Unfortunately these were quite simplistic and didn't dig into most of those properly. If you think of a book like Gamestorming, that's about ten times more useful for these methods than this book.
My hopes was for the last section of the book, examples of service design. As the whole book, that turned out to be a disappointment too. Examples were not really interesting and the way those were presented was quite dull. In one of the examples the designed service never got in to use, but they stated project was still a success. I think the exact opposite. Service which was designed but never got live, is a failure, real big failure.
Book was planned by top service designers and that might have been that the reading experience also failed. They tried in top of everything to renew the concept of a book with coloring, icons and lines going here and there. That made the book complex to read. Maybe there would not have been need to renew a such a working concept that a book is.
I honestly don't recommend this book to anyone. I want to believe Service Design and the people behind service design. This book does no good to the practice. There must be better books about the subject than this one.
I don't think I learned anything about this book. At least not in the positive way. Do yourself a favor, mark this to the "no go" list.
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
I got as a Christmas present from my sister and her husband a book about common guy turning to an ironman. This book Can't Swim, Can't Ride, Can't Run...moreI got as a Christmas present from my sister and her husband a book about common guy turning to an ironman. This book Can't Swim, Can't Ride, Can't Run: From Common Man to Ironman from Andy Holgate was their interpretation of my current triathlon enthuasism. I guess they hit it quite close.
This book is a journey without any technical jargon about training. It's a motivational story about ones life and how triathlon bug can hit hard. Andy Holgate turns from quite normal, bit overweight, librarian to an endurance maniac. Andy Holgate had first written a blog and based on that he decided to turn it into a book. Book surely is written in enjoyable way. It was easy to get in to moods of Andy's by his writings. He also introduces lots of his training friends and describes them well. It really is a sneak peak to quite a normal life, filled with endurance sports.
What I like in this book, is that Andy surely teaches everybody to appreciate endurance sports. He himself went all the way to be an Ironman, but still he seems to cheer everyone for all the different endurance sports.
Andy Holgate is living proof that everyone can do triathlons if they wish. It's a mindset thing, not anything else. That's the best part of the book.
It's an entertaining book, which suits well for vacation times. I can happily recommend it to everyone. It a fun thing to read. This might give an extra push to take a endurance challenge. This book is not a how to train for ironman book, it's a book that motivates you to take the challenge.
This review was written first to my blog - here. (less)
This book had been a long time in my reading list. I've wanted to read The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin P. Williams for few years already. I've...moreThis book had been a long time in my reading list. I've wanted to read The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin P. Williams for few years already. I've read some design books before and customer experiences are also my favorite work subject. Design is such a big part of experiences, that I've wanted to learn much more about that subject for some time.
I had read so many good reviews about the book, that expectations towards the book was high. When I received the book and started scim the book through I was bit amazed. I had imagined it to be somewhat different. I was bit disappointed at first.
When I finally started to read the book, I totally loved it. It went back to the very basics of design. It goes through the basic concepts of Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Understanding and following these basic elements would make many documents and presentations so much better. The best thing is, that book explains all of these with ease and fun.
The later section of the book concentrates on text and fonts. Understanding fonts was really a new thing to me. I do see text differently after reading this book. I've known that there are many different fonts out there, but I haven't really realized how those work together and what is the difference of all those. Now I've scratched the surface on typefaces and I definitely want to learn more.
This book should be mandatory in all the schools, where presentations and documents need to be created. We would have so much more informative and pleasant reading experiences if everyone would have read at least the first part of the book. The fonts section was fun for me, but I can imagine it won't be for everyone.
It was fun, easy and important book to read. I highly recommend this to everyone.
This book review was first published in my blog - here .(less)
I recently read Jeffrey Gitomer's Social Boom! This wasn't a book that belong to my to read list, but I still read it because we had some LinkedIn rel...moreI recently read Jeffrey Gitomer's Social Boom! This wasn't a book that belong to my to read list, but I still read it because we had some LinkedIn related ideas flying around the office. I wanted to check if there would be some good tips about business social media for us.
Contents of the book as such are quite good. It goes trough the most important social media's from business point of view and tells how one could create sales leads with social media. Book didn't offer much new for myself, but that might be due to me being quite familiar with Social Media's already.
The style of the book was much too American for me. There was big bold letters and amazing words used all the way through the book. I think it was made for American sales man. For silent northern European it was awful to read. I felt like someone was shouting to me and slapping my face all the time.
I do like that people don't care about what others have to say. Jeffrey Gitomer seems to be just this kind of a guy. He talks straight and teaches what he has learned. I do appreciate that. He just feels much too arrogant for my taste.
I don't actually recommend this to anyone. It is not bad as such, but it is not fun to read. It felt bit like watching some bad daily discussion TV show, where there's too much drama on everything. There must be better written books about business social media than this one.
This review was originally posted to my blog here (less)
I've wanted to know about Zen for a while now. I selected my first contact with Zen to be a book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It's a collection of stori...moreI've wanted to know about Zen for a while now. I selected my first contact with Zen to be a book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It's a collection of stories from Zen master who taught in US for many years.
It might be the first book ever which is hard for me to review. It's hard to say anything about Zen teaching, because of I'm totally new to Zen myself. Also saying something about Zen book somehow insults the way I understand Zen. And then also the idea in Zen is to keep always learning with clear mind.
Book was really interesting to read. Almost every story told in the book got me thinking. It takes time to read the book and fully have the time to think on the teaching taught in the book. Good thing is that these stories are just short enough to read in ten minutes and then stop to think a bit more on what was actually said.
All I can say about the actual content is that it at least got me much more interested on Zen than before the book. I guess it has done it's job on that sense.
If you have any interest on Zen, I definitely recommend to read the book.
This review was originally published in my blog here(less)
Jack Daniels is a professor of physical education, coach of Olympic athletes and olympic medalist himself. That was proof enough for me, to take a clo...moreJack Daniels is a professor of physical education, coach of Olympic athletes and olympic medalist himself. That was proof enough for me, to take a closer look on his ideas.
For me there were two important things in this book. First one was the idea of training load. I've understood that there is different load for different type of exercises, but this book got me to understand more about it and quantify the loads to some extend. I took that part directly in to use on my training diary and will use it for this training season to know if it really works or not.
Second important thing in this book was the different running speeds and the VDOT index for those. VDOT wasn't totally new concept for me, but since it was invented for this book I got to understand all the background information behind it. Other than just running speeds, it gives pretty good tips for different type of running trainings.
Running speeds in VDOT are Easy, Maraton, Threshold, Interval and Repetition. From those, the separation between Interval and Repetition was not clear to me at all before this book. No it is much more obvious that those exercises and speeds are for different purposes; Intervals for training VO2Max and Repetitions are for speed and technique.
Big part of the book is also training programs. There are training programs from elite athletes to first time runners. Training programs also varies from short 800m runs all the way to marathons. So there are training programs for everybody, except for triathlons. For me the best thing about training programs was to get some good ideas what kind of exercises could be done.
From content point of view, book was excellent. It's filled with good information and ideas about running training. Then from editorial point, it was bit messy. It wasn't as easy and pleasurable to read as it could have been. I blame publishers for that one. They should have put more focus on readability.
I still recommend this book to everyone who wants to understand running training. It gives such a good information about the endurance side of running training, that it is valuable to read. It's also quite quick to read, so I recommend to get it in to your hands and at least scim it through.
This review was originally published in my blog here(less)
The Agile Gene is book from Matt Ridley about genetics, evolution and how people are people. It starts form really early in first studies about human...moreThe Agile Gene is book from Matt Ridley about genetics, evolution and how people are people. It starts form really early in first studies about human and behaviors. It tells a full journey to the latest genetics researches.
The main question in the book is the long lasting debate on nature, meaning the DNA and inherited things and nurture, the things that environment effects on people. It goes trough studies from both sides and digs deep in to the main pillars of the both explanations.
One by one it starts to get more obvious that there is no one explanation on this question. Nature plays it part on growing, but nurture also has a big effect on many things. The most surprising there is that genes actually work with environment to make things possible. So those are not only enablers or disablers, but can adjust to the environment.
I have to admit the book was quite hard to follow sometimes. It went such deeply to some of the scientific subjects, that it would have required some more basic understanding of genetics to follow fully. Still mainly it was fun and interesting to read. Matt Ridley knows how to write in very interesting form.
Reading the book I had to change my mind many times. On some points I was sure that genes are the main influencer of what we turn out to be, but then after some tens of pages I again thought that environment is the important thing. I can't remember a book that have mixed my head more during reading the book than this was. That said in a good way.
I recommend this book to those who are interested on psychology, genetics or evolution. It requires interest towards those subject, otherways it becomes too technical to read. I enjoyed it a lot. It goes to the one of the best books I've read this year.
This review was first posted to my blog - here(less)
Marshall B. Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication - A Language of Life was really interesting book about communication. It is one of those books that h...moreMarshall B. Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication - A Language of Life was really interesting book about communication. It is one of those books that hopefully changes the way I communicate with others.
Basics of nonviolent communication is observing clearly, understanding the feeling, recognizing the needs and making clear request. I explained it myself even more simply, try to, without judgment, understand what other is saying and why, then make sure you are understood as well. As easy and basics it might sound, I believe no one can always communicate that clearly and honestly.
The book explains with lots of good examples from quite normal and really extraordinary situations how communication can be the key to progress in many situations. M.B Rosenberg has seen really difficult situations, but seems to have handled those well with nonviolent communication methods.
Understanding these methods is not hard. On the other hand learning to use these in everyday communication can take years or decades. We are so learned to use judgments on our communication that communicating with open heart and mind can be difficult. We are so built to seek for acceptance, that we can't understand the true needs behind the things we say and do.
This book is easy to read, but it requires courage to digest. It requires a journey to one's inner feelings and needs. As much of I would like to recommend this to anyone, I feel that to get the benefits of this, one needs to be open enough for the softer values of live. If you've read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and liked it, this might be a good book for you.
I hope that I would learn to communicate with rules of nonviolent communication in the future. I'm especially keen on trying to use these methods with my daughters. As a parent it is so easy to use authority and judgment to get through wishes. I do know that it requires more than one book to understand and start using this methodology effectively. I added other books of nonviolent communication to my reading list to come to the subject later on also. Now it's the time to start practicing.
This book was originally reviewed in my blog here (less)
I read The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business. This was a book I purchased to understand knowledge man...moreI read The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business. This was a book I purchased to understand knowledge management possibilities in our client companies. So it was purely out of professional interest about the subject.
After reading the book, knowledge management feels more of a bureaucratic nonsense than it did before the book. It introduced knowledge management to require lot of efforts and big organization to get it working. I just have to disagree with that.
Big part of the book was explaining the obvious of knowledge management. There wasn't really anything innovative presented for knowledge management, tools and processes were common and common sense.
Examples presented in the book was from big companies, I don't consider really leading edge of any sort. Those were big successful companies, which I believe have all the methodologies of the world in use and succeed despite those. I didn't find any actual proof, that knowledge management would have really made these companies special.
I do believe knowledge management and learning organizations are important. I disagree the bureaucratic, comprehensive programs build to increase knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing comes from open atmosphere and good enough tools for it.
As a final touch, style of the book couldn't be considered as exhilarating or inspiring. It could have easily been 50 pages shorter than it was. I can't really recommend it to anyone. There must be better books for knowledge management.
This review was also posted on my blog - here(less)
Due to my Triathlon enthusiasm in past year, I've got into swimming also. As to my nature, I have to get to know the technical jargon about swimming,...moreDue to my Triathlon enthusiasm in past year, I've got into swimming also. As to my nature, I have to get to know the technical jargon about swimming, that I would be able to learn to swim smoothly. For that purpose I found a perfect book, 300 pages about freestyle swimming.
Swim Smooth is book by Paul Newsome and Adam Young, both have a long background on swimming, but even more background on coaching swimming. They have a Swim Smooth named swimming training center in Australia and very useful web page also about swimming.
I must admit, that I thought there can't be written 300 pages about freestyle swimming so, that every page would make sense, but I was so wrong. Book is filled with good information, training tips, technique and useful pictures explaining all the things in detail. When reaching to the end of the book, I even thought it fell bit short.
Book starts from the basics of swimming and explains every part of swimming in great detail. For training purposes, book introduces 6 different swimmer types and give tips on improving swimming to all of those. It also says that there is no one best way to swim, it's always about the body and personal preferences.
If you are on to improving your freestyle swimming or into triathlon, this is a must read book. It stops the speculation on what is good and what is not for swimming and gives statistics and technique advices to all aspects of swimming. It has even its own section to open water swimming.
Only minus I have to give the book is that it became expensive to me. I have ordered swimming training equipment with about 100 euros only due to this book. I believe those will pay back to me on better swimming training sessions and eventually as a better swimmer in next triathlon races.
For freestyle swimming, this book is my bible now. I'm not going to look for any other book or training sites for a long time.
Latest book I read was The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown. It was at the...moreLatest book I read was The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown. It was at the same time one of the hardest and easiest books I've read for a long time. It was easy and enjoyable to read, but the subjects did hit hard sometimes.
The book is about soft values, about love, life and wholehearted living. It might sound as nonsense, but it's actually supported with lots of scientific material. Also Brene Brown herself has Ph.D and is a research professor at university. So these soft values has lots and lots of backup material to support the story.
The whole idea of the book is that admitting to be imperfect, makes life much more enjoyable. It talks about subject as busyness, shame, being uncool, being vulnerable and many more. The subject did hit me straight many times. I do too often feel shame and think what others think of me. I even felt shame reading this book in the train. It has a heart on its cover and many hearts in pages. It might sound stupid, but I caught myself thinking what others might think of me reading a book filled with hearts.
This is actually what the book is about. It's about authenticity and having the guts to be who you really are. People nowadays try to fit in so much, that they are not enjoying living their lives.
Luckily I did found somethings similar to my thinking at the book. One of the key messages in the book was that in order to really love others, you need to love yourself first. And not in a cocky way. I do agree this fully, but I'll let the book to explain the details, for not putting words to Brene's mouth. It is a subject many might think differently.
It is an excellent book, which I believe too few guys have the courage to read. It talks so much about the soft values and being vulnerable, that it is hard to read. I did enjoy it a lot and try to become stronger by agreeing on being imperfect. This is a good read for everyone, but I believe it's too difficult for the people who don't have their hearts at list bit open for being vulnerable.
This review was originally posted in my blog - here(less)
Evolution theory and all the things related to it, has been an interest for me. This time I wanted to dig deeper and read Darwin's Dangerous Idea by D...moreEvolution theory and all the things related to it, has been an interest for me. This time I wanted to dig deeper and read Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett. It is highly appreciated book with good reviews. It was a book I wanted to check out.
I had assumptions that this book dives in to the subject deep, but still I got amazed how deep it went. It started from old philosophic thoughts and then worked its way to Darwin and to latest thoughts in 1990's. All the topics were covered thoroughly with scientific way of comparing things from all perspectives.
Book covers subjects from the beginning of the whole universe to meme's. It talks about God and evolution theory. It covers philosophical thoughts. There is almost anything one can think that affect Darwin's original thoughts.
As an ordinary, non biology or philosophy expert, I was sometimes overwhelmed about all the information there was. Even tough sometimes I wasn't able to understand everything, I just kept going and tried to catch up later on.
I did enjoy the book. It was pretty hard to read, but the contents were such a valuable and brilliant, that it turned the book to positive experience. I did learn a lot during this book. It raised a lots of thoughts all the time I was reading it. For sure this wasn't the last book about these subjects I read. I need to know more sometimes.
I can recommend this book to people who are genuinely interested on Evolution theory, philosophy or biology overall. Without this interest, book might get too hard to read and follow. It is an excellent book, but pretty laborious to read.
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
Leading the Revolution was a book I found from my friends bookshelf, when we were visiting them. He hadn't read the book and I hadn't heard anything a...moreLeading the Revolution was a book I found from my friends bookshelf, when we were visiting them. He hadn't read the book and I hadn't heard anything about it beforehand, so I got the luxury to read it without many expectations towards it. Gary Hamel as a person was familiar to me, but this book wasn't.
Book is about innovation. How radical and continuous innovation is only way companies can stay on the top and profitable. Also it tells how people outside the top management can be the ones who drive the innovation in companies.
It was refreshing to read innovation theories from 10 years back. Most of it is totally valid even today. This book unfortunately lost part of it's value with dot-com bubble and Enron scandal. This shouldn't change the fact, that book is full of good thinking of how companies should support innovation and reinvent their business models often enough. I liked the book and with these known shortcomings, it's still a good book to read.
I read Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative by Austin Kleon. I've seen and read many books similar to this, telling ho...moreI read Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative by Austin Kleon. I've seen and read many books similar to this, telling how to be creative, but still this was bit different.
Austin Kleon tells in funny and direct way how creating art or innovative stuff isn't that cool and hip all the time. There is the dull side on creativity also. Being creative requires focus, self control and being dull. It's fun to hear these things from person who is really thought to be creative. I strongly second his opinions.
It was such a fun book to read. It didn't even feel like a book, it almost felt like a short movie. Pages and ideas kept flying past so fast, that I didn't even notice reading the full book.
So to whom the book would be for? Easiest would be to say that everyone should be more creative and should read it, but especially this is for those who want to be creative. The most important lesson is that creativity is always based on something and requires work. And being dull is not that bad really.
This review was written to my blog, original post (less)
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson was addictive dive in the madness industry nowadays. Jon really knows how to grip reader to a journey with many inte...moreThe Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson was addictive dive in the madness industry nowadays. Jon really knows how to grip reader to a journey with many interesting twists.
This was the first book I read from Jon Ronson, so I didn't know what to expect. Still I was waiting for more scientific approach to psychopathy, but the book turned out to be really entertaining. Book told a lot about psychopaths, but also about so much else in the whole madness industry.
I have to admit I got to know much more about Scientology and mental illnesses from the book that I could have never imagined. The best was, that everything was told in really interesting ways. Jon introduced many persons in the book, some with their own name, some with fake names. He did it so interestingly, that I at least had to go and search for more information about many of these people later on.
Maybe suitably for a book about madness industry, book jumps from subject to subject so rapidly, that sometimes it was bit hard to follow. For some other book it would have been annoying, but for madness book, it suits the picture.
I can recommend this to everyone who is interested in people and behaviors in general. It explains some of the madness's happening in the world quite well.
The worst thing for me reading this book was, that now I must find a book with more scientific information about mental illnesses and psychopathy.
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
I finished the book about a week ago and I'm still bit puzzled, what it was all about. There was so many good things presented there and so many good...moreI finished the book about a week ago and I'm still bit puzzled, what it was all about. There was so many good things presented there and so many good examples around the world, that it takes time to digest it. Maybe the main message there is, that management practices in use are old and these don't help to get the full potential out of the people in companies.
Gary Hamel has found really interesting examples from very different kind of organizations all around the world to demonstrate how management and organizational behaviour can change. There are organizations from churches to small and huge companies in very different industries presented. The main similarity between examples is, that there has been in these organizations few people who have wanted to make a change in how their organization operate.
The book was really interesting and inspiring. It raised a lot of questions and gave some answers. It brought lot of seeds for ideas, but left also many questions to wonder. It was easy to read, but hard to digest.
I really like the way Gary Hamel writes. It's always interesting and easy to read, whatever the subject is. I recommend it for everyone interested in organizational improvement and new management practices. It's an important book which raises questions and thoughts. It's a pleasure to read.
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
I always enjoy writing. Even though I wouldn't really feel like writing, when I start writing, it always makes me happy. That was the reason I wanted...moreI always enjoy writing. Even though I wouldn't really feel like writing, when I start writing, it always makes me happy. That was the reason I wanted to read, what was said to be the best book about writing, Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write.
It would be easy to state that the book is old fashion and don't reflect todays writing. It was originally written already in 1938. The style of the book and some of the writing there are quite old fashion, but the idea itself is live and kicking.
The main idea in the book is, that everyone is talented and have something to say. In the book Brenda tells in her unique way stories about what it is to really write from one's heart. That's the key message and carrying theme over the book, people will listen to you, if you really tell things from your inner self.
That's a message I sincerely believe. Being open and not worrying too much about what others have to say makes your writing much better. The book and my experience tells that it is not easy. There's always the fear of shame and critisism that keeps us not telling things as we really think.
I did like the book. It's not the best one I've read this year, but it's a good one. The message there is quite simple and there is only her words to take as proof. It's not a normal guide to something, but it's more of journey to be more honest to oneself.
It's bit hard to recommend this book to certain people. It's for those who already are a bit genuine enough to take over 75 year old book about writing to their hands.
This review was originally posted on my blog here (less)
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is an excellent book. It's a perfect view to today's knowledge on people's behavior, decision making, ration...moreThinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is an excellent book. It's a perfect view to today's knowledge on people's behavior, decision making, rationality, economics and many more sides of human behavior. Author, Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel prize winner on his work on economical psychology. He might be the best person in the world to tell about human behavior and it flaws on decision making.
This book is a really comprehensive view to everything around decision making and rationality. It looks the subject via so many points of view that it is bit exhausting. As an admired scientist he explains everything thoroughly and wants readers to understand the science behind each theory. This is both refreshing and laborious. I did appreciate, that backgrounds of each theory was explained to me, but sometimes it required an excellent concentration to really understand all that theory.
This is not an easy book to read. I don't recommend this to people who haven't ever read anything with a psychological view point. It is easier to read this, if you know at least something on human behavior. This book goes so much deeper on many theories that all the background information is useful.
I found the whole book really interesting, but professionally most interesting parts were about estimating, probabilities and flaws on those. Estimating in SW industry has been such a hot potato for a long time. This book gives one brilliant view from psychological view point, why we are so bad at estimating. Maybe there would be something to learn to all SW people in this book also.
As said, book digs deep to so many different areas, that there's no point on opening all of those up in here. If you are interested in human behavior in economic or decision making sense, you shouldn't miss this book. It is important book on that area. The most important I've read so far.
Even though Daniel Kahneman is a scientist, he writes in quite interesting way. Book is not hard to read for its text, but because it's so full of important insights. For a non native English speaker though, as I am, it was sometimes bit hard to follow. Still I got on track with some recaps. Reading this does take time, but it is worth every second.
This review was posted also to my blog - here (less)
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield was a book I really looked forward to read. It had been mentioned as reference in so many different books and so m...moreThe War of Art by Steven Pressfield was a book I really looked forward to read. It had been mentioned as reference in so many different books and so many interesting people, that I just had to read it. Even with high expectations, but no real glue of the style of the book, it surprised me how wonderful it was.
The book is about making things happen. How one can truly follow it's calling and actually make things happen. It's a perfect guide for everyone to start creating the things you want to and stop making excuses why you couldn't be doing these things. It talks a lot about writing, but the learning's can be reused for anything one wants to do.
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever...more"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." This famous Matrix quote could have been the starting lines of this wonderful book You're Not So Smart by David McRaney. After reading this, there really is no turning back. You will see the world differently. And you will see yourself differently.
If it wasn't clear already, this book is about psychology. It tells 48 things about behavior and people, that changes the way you see the world. There's so many great things in the book, that it's impossible to raise any one out from there. There are articles about how our behavior can and is manipulated, how we incorrectly believe the world to be, how our memory works and lots and lots of more
It's hard to say to whom this would be for. I would like to say for all, but I know some are not even smart enough to want to read this. So I hope anyone who are willing to know more about human behavior would read this. It is one of the best books I've ever read.
Book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen was one that I got recommended by my old boss, who got...moreBook Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen was one that I got recommended by my old boss, who got into barefoot running sometime ago. I bet this book had a big part on his turning to barefoot running. Still I didn't have much expectations towards the book at the first place, but it turned out to be one of the best books I've read for few years.
Author, Christopher McDougall starts the story from his problems with his feet. There the journey goes all the way to the one of greatest ultra-marathons ever arranged. During the journey there's so many colorful persons and stories, that book feels more like a fiction than true and teach-full story. Still it's a true story about running and who we are and what's our history.
Almost hidden between the fun ride, there's lot of scientific studies and interviews from respected experts on running, physiology and training. McDougall writes so well, that these often so boring scientific sections are actually really interesting and complement the book to its full glory. At the same time, book is an interesting story about Tamahura indians, ultra-running and science behind running injuries.
Reading this book will make you run and enjoy more out of it than before. Also you will most probably learn more about you as human more than you thought beforehand. It's a wonderful book, filled with great insights from very different perspectives.
There's not a single group of persons I wouldn't recommend on reading this. It's just pure fun.
This review was written to my blog, original post (less)
For a change I read something totally different than the business related books I've read lately. I'm in a transformation process from team sports and...moreFor a change I read something totally different than the business related books I've read lately. I'm in a transformation process from team sports and games towards endurance sports. So I wanted to go to the master source of endurance training, so I picked up Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel. I found so many good recommendations on it, I had to give it a try. And I didn't regret a minute.
Book is about training for triathlon. But it's not only about triathlon as such. It gives so much good basic knowledge about endurance training, nutrition and training planning, that it's an excellent book for anyone. I honestly learned more about endurance training from this book, than I've learned from any other sources counted together.
Since my triathlon enthusiasm started I have been trying to get in to a lighter weight for better results. Losing weight has never been easy for me an...moreSince my triathlon enthusiasm started I have been trying to get in to a lighter weight for better results. Losing weight has never been easy for me and with raising amount of training load, it has been even harder. That's the reason I got my hands in to a book from Matt Fitzgerald: Racing Weight.
Matt Fitzgerald is a sport nutritionist with a background of endurance sports, coaching endurance sports and working for food companies making products for endurance sports. For me that was background enough to prove he knows what he is talking about.
Book takes comprehensive, but simple enough approach to endurance nutrition. It talks through the basics of diets and different sources of nutrition. It quotes many studies from different points of view to diets and training. It also explains different trends in dieting and their pro's and con's.
Racing Weight ideology brings eating back to basics. It supports foods that are natural. It tells athletes to concentrate on quality of the food and then your own appetite.
Book offers simple methods to improve food quality. It recommends to think or even to calculate a bit what you are eating, but it still keeps things pretty simple. Book also offers good ways to manage your appetite and concentrate that you eat for real need of energy.
I loved the simplistic and naturalistic approach of the book. This type of methodology is not about trends or one truth about dieting. It is a comprehensive way to improve your diet and with that your racing weight. It will be easy to not lose weight or improve fat percentage after reading this book. This doesn't offer any magic tricks, but it makes you think of the elements what makes your body to lose or gain weight. For results that will last, that is essential.
I recommend this book even for the people who are not endurance sports enthusiastic. It gives so much good information to everyone about diets that it's valuable reading for all. It's easy and fun to read, so it's really for everyone
This review was originally published in my blog - here(less)
I really recommend this book to everyone. This book is the key on understanding why some services or products just feel better than others. Even you w...moreI really recommend this book to everyone. This book is the key on understanding why some services or products just feel better than others. Even you wouldn't be directly involved in dealing with customers, you should read it. This is such an important book to understand what customer experience is all about.
This time I read book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It was a book that was mentioned as reference in so many...moreThis time I read book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It was a book that was mentioned as reference in so many different books, that I thought I need to read it myself also. It is a book about psychology, motivation and being happy.
Main question in the book is, what really makes people enjoy their lives. It looks this subject from so many different points of view, that I can say that it's extensive look on motivation and being happy. It is based on professor Csikszentmihalyi own studies, but it does refer to many other studies as well.
I guess it's not really a spoiler to tell, that flow is the state that makes people enjoy what they do and at the end also enjoy their lives more. This book explains what the flow state really is and how people often achieve it. I'm not even going to try to explain how flow state could be achieved, but I want to quote one line from this book to give some hint on it: "However, enjoyment, as we have seen, does not depend on what you, but rather on how you do it."
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